James Murray is Niccy's treble-maker as he downs Millburn with a hat-trick

Both teams settled well and the opening 15mins had very little in the way of goal scoring opportunities as both midfields battled for the upper hand.

The Nicolson then started to find some time on the ball and were able to turn the Milburn defence using the breakneck pace of the speedster James Graham up front.

James was looking very dangerous and made several chances for himself through chasing down defenders and forcing mistakes but was unable to beat the keeper on each occasion.

He was not to be denied for long as shortly after he was put through on goal by the impressive Angus Murray and regained his composure to finish into the corner to put his side a goal up and in the box seat.

Two quick goals soon followed though nice passes from Ian Smith down the left hand side and Daniel Cameron on the right to give James his hat trick for the match and the Nicolson a healthy half time lead.

The second half was going to be a more challenging task against a strong wind with Milburn pressing for the goal to get them back into the game.

The Nicolson kept their shape well and denied any clear opportunities early on with big Tam immense at the back sweeping up everything that came his way.

When called upon keeper Angus Macdonald made two excellent stops but was finally beaten when his defenders stopped whilst claiming for a handball and the Milburn striker had time to pick his corner and get his side back into the match.

In a nervy last 10 mins the Nicolson stayed defended well with numbers behind the ball and earned themselves a semi-final tie away to Mintlaw.